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Definition of preemption in US English:

preemption

noun

1The purchase of goods or shares by one person or party before the opportunity is offered to others.

‘the commission had the right of preemption’

‘The importance attached by institutional shareholders to their pre-emption rights is demonstrated by the supplementary rules, which they have sponsored, applying to such issues.’

‘In pre-emption articles, it is usual to find, as here, a permitted class of transferee or a provision for transfer to a non-member in the event that no existing member is willing to purchase the shares.’

‘Mrs. Clarke would prefer this to be a right of pre-emption and that if the Purchaser exercises its right completion will take place twenty eight days thereafter.’

‘I needed to sort out a way of creating pre-emption provisions and to retain control.’

1.1North American, NZ, Australian historical The right to purchase public land by preemption.

‘It is argued that taxation by pre-emption - the monopoly purchase of land by the Crown for resale at inflated prices - was in substance if not form, a kind of capital gains tax on Maori land owners.’

‘Increased land sales and pre-emption laws (which authorised settlers to stake claims on most surveyed lands) had facilitated rapid settlement of the Midwest and the Old Southwest.’

‘The right of pre-emption or exclusive purchase in the same article was used by the Crown to lawfully extinguish Maori customary title and thereby allow alienation.’

‘The table below shows how, as the Crown's policy of pre-emption took effect, the burden of providing revenue fell upon Maori to finance the colony's development.’

2The action of preempting or forestalling, especially of making a preemptive attack.

‘damaging retaliation for any attempt at preemption’

‘He summarized much legal and philosophical argument by specifying four criteria of preemption as self-defense.’

‘This is not retribution but pre-emption, finding appropriate force to prevent a further attack.’

‘Any doctrine of pre-emption must rest on certain knowledge of an immediate attack.’

‘Is there a policy about pre-emption that we are prepared to apply consistently?’

‘Patriots, of whatever social provenance, would never accept any action likely to damage prospects of victory, and might well attempt pre-emption if such an action were anticipated.’

‘True, there may be a tolerance of pre-emption if an attack is imminent.’

2.1The interruption or replacement of a scheduled radio or television program.

‘Maybe some of the blame for the programme's poor ratings can be blamed on preemptions, and episodes airing out of order - but then why not put them in the proper order them for the DVD release?’

‘For the first quarter, we are estimating that the events resulted in approximately $2.2 million in advertiser cancellations and preemptions, many coming from the automotive sector.’